"All this happened, more or less."

“If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: in love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are.”   I can’t believe it, but shortly after starting this novel, I put it down in favor of reading A Game of Thrones (Book I) . I liked the writing in The Nightingale ; Kristin Hannah turns quite an exquisite phrase, but I guess it just didn’t grab my attention, or it wasn’t the right timing. When I picked it back up, it didn’t take me long to wonder why I had ever been less than intrigued with the novel in the first place. I want to make it clear: I highly recommend this book. Vianne and Isabelle, two sisters who find themselves in the midst of Nazi-occupied France, initially react very differently to the occupation. Isabelle is a rebellious teen who joins the resistance without a second thought. Estranged from her father and alienated from her sister, she uses pure strength of character, determination, and hatred of Nazi ideology and...

Young dandelion, just a weed, you grow where you weren't wanted. Daffodil-yellow, you face the sky so full of potential. As your bright color fades, and you appear as insubstantial wisps, that's when you'll take flight. Original piece by Amber Counts, 2016 Please contact for permission to reprint.

It’s check-out time for teachers all over the country. I don’t know how it’s done everywhere, but I do know that in the two districts in which I’ve worked, this involves running around frantically looking for the proper signatures that denote that proper end-of-year procedures have been followed. You know, like cleaning the classroom so it can be used for training during the summer, finalizing grades (and notifying parents of failures), filling out inventories, and other equally nauseating stimulating tasks. I couldn’t decide whether to be sarcastic or realistic there, so I went for both. In the midst of this chaos, schools often hold an end-of-year faculty and staff luncheon, dinner, banquet, whatever, to celebrate successes and end the year on a positive note. Awards are often a part of this celebration. In the last two years, for instance, I received awards for perfect attendance, for reaching the lofty goal of coaching an Academic Decathlon team to the state competition, and ...

I began reading Stephen King’s work in 6 th grade after falling in love with the brilliant movie Stand by Me . Finally, I thought: a story reflected the realities of negotiating puberty, friend groups, and problematic family dynamics in a way that didn’t minimize the thoughts, actions, and desires of young people (1). King’s keen insight into human motivations, fears, and longings is what has reignited my interest in his work (after years of reading children’s books to my kids and academic texts for college), and this insight is what makes the novella “A Good Marriage” found in the compilation Full Dark, No Stars , so satisfying. No vampires haunt this tale. No creepy ghost twins hang out in the hallway. Not a single clown beckons from a gutter. No, the scariest aspect of this story is that it reminds us that monsters are unfortunately and undeniably real, but they look like ordinary people. Sometimes, they are people lucky enough to be part of a good marriage . When Darcy’s ordi...

Ode to Y’all by Amber Counts Oh, much-maligned word – misunderstood – only spoken by hicks, hillbillies, rednecks – the under-educated, unsophisticated. Poor “y’all” – unappreciated – judged by the way you look, how you sound, but I haven’t found a more inclusive way to address a crowd. You see, y’all, “you guys” leaves at least half of all people out of your address; the inclusiveness of y’all simply must impress you for its simplicity and cohesiveness. It’s not “hick” at all; it’s a perfect contraction and therefore should meet with your satisfaction. I say “y’all” because you all matter. Every single one of you. You all. Y’all.